FIBA Basketball

FIBA Americas Women - Co-favourites Brazil and Canada look to seal the deal

XALAPA (FIBA Americas Championship for Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - With a solid track record of competing on the global level, it's unsurprising Brazil and Canada headed to the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Women in Xalapa, Mexico as favourites and after four games, remain unbeaten and on course to not only contest gold, but also land a ...

With three precious passports to Turkey 2014 and a podium spot to play for, one of the four Semi-Finalists will face heartache, with Puerto Rico and Cuba the other two contenders.

Canada are preparing to face in-form Puerto Rico in the Friday's Semi-Finals and they will have to be at their optimum level of performance to deny their opponents who have momentum with three consecutive wins, despite a shock Day 1 battering against Brazil.

Having locked down the previously unbeaten Cuba 53-40 to take top spot in Group A last time out, Canadian head coach Lisa Thomaidis is aware just how much that kind of defensive effort helps her team to keep rolling.

"It was our toughness and our fitness that won us the game," she said.

"We rebounded well and we wore them down.

"Our defense was strong and when you hold a team to two points in a quarter and just ten in the half, it makes it easier to get the win."

That strength on the boards has been a real team effort, whilst Tamara Tatham has looked particularly on-song and very much grown with the tournament.

Puerto Rico meanwhile will look to Carla Cortijo and Jazmine Sepulveda to lend their experience and firepower in a bid to breach the impressively robust and watertight Canadian defense.

As for Brazil, they have won their games by convincing margins and that has allowed head coach Luiz Augusto Zanon to rotate his roster significantly.

This could pay dividends down the tournament stretch, starting with the clash with Cuba.

Conserving the energy of more senior players for crunch time in the last two days, he has given the younger players more minutes than anyone probably imagined possible.

Indeed Zanon has been thrilled with the contributions made by his young core and especially in their last game against Mexico, which saw them ride to a 97-45 rout of the hosts.

"We put out the athletes who had less experience to play the game and they showed good deeds and great behaviour throughout the match, even after the game was already decided," said the delighted coach.

"Rotations happened without diminishing the group or the score and it is of utmost importance that we give maturity to these younger girls, as we intend to rely increasingly on these players.

"I guess we should also emphasise the unity of the group again, which has been the strong point of our team in every game we have played.

"We are very happy with everything achieved so here and we are focused and targeted on making sure we are riding the wave towards the Worlds.

"We are turning our attention to the next challenge and this is the semi-final against Cuba," concluded Zanon.

Cuba won their first three games and were the first team to qualify for the last four, relying heavily on the power and scoring touch of Yamara Armago.

And Zanon will have taken an interested eye in how Canada were able to nullify her offensive threat to great effect - something he will hope his team can also do, in order to help book a berth in the Final on Saturday.

For full and in-depth coverage of the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Women, go to the official website http://www.xalapa2013.com.

FIBA